World Bank, FAO team up to help rural communities affected by Ebola in Guinea

The World Bank is teaming up with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and national authorities by providing 5 million U.S. dollars for urgently- needed interventions in assisting rural households in Guinea, a UN spokesman said here Tuesday.

"Tens of thousands of people in rural areas of Guinea worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic will receive training on how to prevent the spread of the disease and support in producing food and generating income," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

A total of 30,000 households will be sensitized on measures to counter the transmission of the disease in rural areas, and experienced rural development and field workers will undertake awareness activities combined with the provision of hygiene kits to rural communities, he said.

To date, 1,504 deaths have been reported out of 2,477 Ebola cases that have been confirmed in Guinea.

The Ebola epidemic has caused thousands of deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three hardest hit countries in West Africa by the epidemic.

The UN announced on Jan. 29 that despite the virus not having been totally wiped out, the number of new infections had dropped. Endite